* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (Goals).

Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English football manager and former player. He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009. He was appointed as manager of the England under-21 team in August 2013.

At Aston Villa, he was converted into a centre-back and was part of a formidable defence. In his first season, he lifted the League Cup and Aston Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup. Southgate played in every Premier League game during the 1998–99 season. He continued to play for Villa in the 1999–2000 season as Villa reached the FA Cup Final, but handed in a transfer request just before Euro 2000, claiming that "if I am to achieve in my career, it is time to move on."[3]John Gregory, the then manager of Villa, attempted to keep his club captain but after a year on the transfer list he left the club in 2001.[citation needed]

Southgate did not sign for one of the major clubs as many predicted but instead became Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren's first signing for the club. This may have partially been due to the opportunity to reunite his defensive pairing with Ugo Ehiogu with whom he was a centre-back at Villa. Immediately he became a firm favourite at the Riverside, winning the club's Player of the Year award in his first season after a series of assured displays while receiving no yellow cards.[citation needed]

Southgate was appointed captain for the 2002–03 season when Paul Ince left the club and became the first Middlesbrough captain to lift a major trophy when he helped them win the League Cup at the Millennium Stadium in February 2004. His season ended shortly after that win, when he suffered knee ligament damage.[citation needed]

There were strong rumours that Southgate could be set for a move to Manchester United following Rio Ferdinand's ban for missing a drug test in January 2004,[4] but it turned out to be nothing more than paper talk. He later committed his final playing years to Middlesbrough, signing until 2007. His final appearance as a professional player was in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla, which Boro lost 4–0. He retained his playing registration during his first term as Middlesbrough manager but did not feature either on the field or on the bench.[citation needed]

Southgate made his debut for England as a substitute against Portugal in December 1995 under the management of Terry Venables.[5] Southgate played every minute of their matches as hosts England reached the semi-final of Euro 96, in which they faced Germany. The match was determined in a penalty shoot-out; Southgate's penalty was saved, and England were eliminated.[6] The song "Southgate (Euro '96)" by The Business is a reference to this event. Southgate managed to make light of his blunder later that year by appearing in an advert for Pizza Hut, which also featured Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle, who had missed crucial penalties at the 1990 World Cup.[7]

Southgate was handed his first managerial role at Middlesbrough in June 2006 after Steve McClaren had left to manage England. His appointment drew controversy as he did not have the required coaching qualifications (the UEFA Pro Licence) to manage a top-flight club.[8] He was allowed to stay on as manager, however, by the Premier League in November 2006; Middlesbrough successfully argued that, because Southgate had recently been an international player, he had had no opportunity to undertake the coaching courses.[9] He did go on to complete his coaching qualifications.[10]

In his first season in charge, Southgate guided Middlesbrough to 12th position in the Premier League. His biggest win as a manager was an 8–1 victory against Manchester City in May 2008. In December 2007, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger suggested Southgate as one of several English managers who were "all good enough" to manage the national team.[11] He faced some criticism early in the 2007–08 season after Boro had a spell in the relegation zone, but they later pulled clear of the bottom three.[12] Southgate became the first Middlesbrough manager since Terry Venables in 2001 to win the Premier League Manager of the Month award, for August 2008.[citation needed]

In November 2008, Southgate took Middlesbrough up to 8th place after an away win against on-form Aston Villa; however, Boro would thereafter go 14 games without a win, finally defeating Liverpool at home 2–0 on 28 February 2009.[13] After an away defeat against Stoke City, some of the travelling supporters were calling for his head after only achieving one win in 18 games and relegation survival looking unlikely. On 24 March, chairman Steve Gibson announced that sacking Southgate would not "help the situation".[14] Middlesbrough finished in 19th position and were relegated to the Championship after a 2–1 defeat at West Ham United.[15] Southgate said he was determined to get the club back into the Premier League, praised the supporters and said that he felt for them.[16]

On 20 October 2009, shortly after a 2–0 victory over Derby County, Southgate was dismissed as manager with Middlesbrough in fourth place in the Championship. The dismissal was controversial as he had taken Boro to within one point of the top position,[17][18] but Gibson said he had made the decision weeks earlier in the best interests of the club.[19]

In 2003, Southgate and close friend and former West Ham goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman co-wrote Woody & Nord: A Football Friendship. This book describes an enduring friendship forged in the Crystal Palace youth team that has survived Southgate and Woodman's wildly differing fortunes in the professional game. The book won the Sports Book of the Year award for 2004 from the National Sporting Club (now the British Sports Book Awards).[22][23] In 2005, Southgate contributed a poem to the collection for children, Roary & Friends.[24]

Southgate was also a co-commentator for ITV at the 2006 World Cup, covering group games alongside Clive Tyldesley.[25] His appointment as Middlesbrough manager two days before the start of the tournament meant that he left Germany before the knockout phase began, with David Pleat replacing him as Tyldesley's co-commentator.[citation needed] He resumed a role as pundit and co-commentator after he finished his tenure at Middlesbrough in 2010, working on FA Cup and UEFA Champions League matches for ITV as well as acting as a pundit on England games.[26][27] Southgate has also appeared on media outlets Sky Sports, Setanta Sports and BBC television and radio.[citation needed]

In January 2011, Southgate was appointed as the FA's head of elite development, to work with Sir Trevor Brooking.[28] He left the post in July 2012, and ruled himself out of consideration for the role of technical director,[29] for which he had been a leading candidate.[30]